Llewelyn Powys (1884-1939) was born on 13 August 1884 at Rothesay House in Dorchester, the eighth of eleven children born to the Rev. Charles Francis Powys (1843–1923) and his wife, Mary Cowper Johnson (1849–1914).
Llewelyn attended Sherborne Preparatory School (under headmaster William Heitland Blake), and from January 1899 to April 1903 he attended Sherborne School, where he boarded at The Green, then run by housemaster T.W. Wilson. During his time at Sherborne School, Llewelyn was captain of the winning House Junior XV Challenge Cup team (1903), was awarded his 2nd XV rugby colours (1903), came third in the School Point-to-Point race (1903), and was elected to The Duffers society (1903). He also borrowed books from the School Library. In 1906 he subscribed to the Fives Courts’ Improvement Fund. In 1920 he joined the Old Shirburnian Society and also subscribed to the School War Memorial Fund. In 1936 he subscribed to the H.R. King Memorial Fund.
Llewelyn followed the family tradition and went up to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he founded an epicurean society known as the Club of the Honest Cods. He graduated in 1906 and taught at schools in Broadstairs and Bromsgrove (1907), was a private tutor to a family at Calne (1908), and taught at Sherborne Preparatory School (1909).
His health broke down in 1909 and he spent some time in Switzerland, where he was treated for tuberculosis, Africa (where he joined his brother William on his farm) and the USA. In 1921 he met the American writer, Alyse Gregory (1884-1967), whom he married in 1924.
While in America, Llewelyn gained a reputation as a writer through his journalism and book reviews for The Dial and the New York Evening Post. His major novels and essays include Ebony and Ivory (1923), Thirteen Worthies (1923), Black Laughter (1924), Skin for Skin (1925), The Verdict of Bridlegoose (1926), Henry Hudson (1927), The Cradle of God (1929), The Pathetic Fallacy (1930), Apples Be Ripe (1930), A Pagan’s Pilgrimage (1931), Impassioned Clay (1931), Glory of Life (1934), Earth Memories (1934), Damnable Opinions (1935), Dorset Essays (1935), The Twelve Months (1936), Rats in the Sacristy (1937), Somerset Essays (1937), Love and Death (1939), A Baker’s Dozen (1939), and Swiss Essays (1947).
In 1925 Llewelyn and Alyse returned to England, settling in 1931 at Chydyok in East Chaldon. When his health again broke down he returned to Clavadel near Davos-Platz in Switzerland, where he died on 2 December 1939. His body was cremated and his ashes were scattered on the cliff top near Chydyok at East Chaldon in Dorset. In 1949, a Portland stone block carved by Elizabeth Muntz as a memorial was erected at the spot.
Online resources:
Books borrowed by Llewelyn Powys from Sherborne School Library 1902-1903 (pdf)
The Powys Family and Sherborne School
An insight into the Powys family through the diaries of Henry Robinson King by Rachel Hassall, 2020
Books written by or about Old Shirburnians (including by members of the Powys family)
Links:
The Powys Society
The Sundial Press
John Cowper Powys manuscripts and papers, National Library of Wales
The Powys Collection, Dorset History Centre
The Powys Family Collection, University of Exeter
Paintings of Gertrude Powys on the Art UK website
For further information about the Sherborne School Archives please contact the School Archivist.
Return to the School Archives homepage.